I was reading the thread about the 4 speed Country Squire, and it got me thinking about what other weird or oddball vehicle combinations that could have been ordered back in the day. What have you seen? Here are a few that I have either owned, or or seen in person: - I have a buddy with a '65 Chevelle 4 door wagon with a 283 and a factory 4 speed Muncie tranny. -Several years ago, I bought and sold a '65 Caprice 4 door hardtop with a factory 396 engine and a 4 speed Muncie. -There is a '64 Galaxie 500 2 door sedan(not hard top) in a boneyard about 100 miles from me with a 390 FE engine and a 3 on the tree, I have never seen another one.
Probably not as unusual but in 1967 my pop bought a brand new Camaro, cheapo model, 327-2bl, three on the tree. When is the last time you saw a first gen Camaro with three on the tree? Of course he ended up putting a floor shift conversion in it. don't know why I forgot but, pop now has a 1961 Buick LeSabre 2dr sedan with the long flat roof. It has a 364" auto, full wheel covers, but no outside mirrors and it has radio delete. Supposedly, the body style is one of about 5900 or so.
Somewhere i have a book that featured a 62 Impala 4 door, gold or tan, with a factory 409, 4 speed and factory tach. It was purchased by a 409 collector from i believe the original owner, or original owners family. It was fully documented and extremely rare. I thought that was pretty damn cool. A family 'hauler'.. I owned at one point a 70 ElCamino that was optioned kinda strange. 350 300hp, muncie 4 speed, 12 bolt rear, disc brakes, full gauge package with tach, air...all in a non SS car..and it was completely original as well with papers..
a oil co. in w.va bought a 2 4 429 in a country squire wagon with a 1 gallon aux fuel tank to test other co gas
I have seen the same type of car-4 door Impala, dual quad 409 with a three on the tree in a magazine.
Come to think of it, it's probably the same car.. Good possibility i made a mistake on the 4 speed....in fact, i'm pretty sure it did have a column shift now that you mentioned it.. EDIT: Just found the book.June '06 Hemmings Muscle Machines. It is exactly what you said..dual quad with 3 on the tree.. bad ass car..
There is a guy here in town who works at MSD, and he has a '67 Pontiac Tempest 4 door wagon with with a factory 326 engine, a Muncie 4 speed tranny and a GTO hood. Me and a friend sold it to him and we bought it from the original owner. He has taken it on the Hot Rod Power Tour a few times.
1963 Ford Falcon 4 door wagon, with a 4:11 rear, 260 V8, and I think it was a 3 speed with overdrive on the floor.
Thats an oddball for sure. Guy I went to high school with had the same car, only it was an automatic on the column.( Bucket seats, of course). Although its not HAMB friendly,heres another one. The father of another friend of mine at the time went to a local Ford dealer looking to buy a new car. Always looking for a killer deal, he got one. They had a 1970 Torino Broughem 4 dr. that somebody odered, and later cancelled on. Under the hood was a 429 Super Cobra Jet! They sold him the car for hundreds below thier cost, just to get rid of it. The money he saved was all for naught, however, as it all went in the gas tank. It was a horendous gas hog.
A high school friends dad had a '66 impala 4 door wagon with an L-72 427, four speed, and 4:11 12 bolt posi. Had the basic int. package all three bench seats. He special ordered it so he could pull his fishing boat.
When I was in high school, a fellow classmate's older brother had a '66 Corvette coupe with a 427 and.....POWERGLIDE!
Never seen one, but in theory, you could have ordered a '70 Monte Carlo without an auto trans. Can you see somebody rowing a 3 on the tree in Chevy's so called "personal luxury car"? I have seen an early Monte with a 4 speed, which is almost as wierd.
Guy over here has a '64 4-door Nova SS with a 194 six cylinder.. Story he tells is that '64 was a strike year, and the bowtie boys were stuffing whatever they had laying around into cars to get them out to the dealership floors..
[quote=Drive Em;Several years ago, I bought and sold a '65 Caprice 4 door hardtop with a factory 396 engine and a 4 speed Muncie. Damn, I coulda swore the Caprice came out in '66. I once saw a Pontiac wagon with the 2+2 option, pretty burgundy with black vinyl bucket seat interior, no console if I remember right, musta been a '65 or '66, as our '65 Chrysler was fairly new. The funeral home in our town also had an ambulance (to counter business being dead, they could remark that it was picking up), a '62 Chevy wagon with an awesome dual quad 409 and three on the tree. Of coarse one of the guys scattered that one, so they dropped in a crate 375/327, I got to ride in that one night when I fell through a patio door at a party(9th grade) and cut my neck. I got so jazzed riding in it that my blood pressure shot up and the EMT was having trouble controlling the bleeding and thought my jugular was cut so she told him to stand on it, boy, great memories!
My great Aunt had a 69 Camaro RS/SS,with fold down rear seat and rally wheels. But she ordered it with a 6 cyl. powerglide,
Had a 65 Impala SS Vert that was a 283, 3 on the tree with factory console. I've never seen another one
O/T but my dad special ordered a 1979 Pontiac Grand Prix with the 231 V6, t-tops and a three speed on the floor. Have never seen another Grand prix or any of the GM cars in that body style optioned like that.Wish we still had it, probaly not worth much but pretty different.
1964 Jetstar I Olds, 394 345 h.p. 3 0n the tree chambered exhaust. I rode in this car before I was old enough to drive. About 15 years ago I saw it in a local scap yard but like a fool I did not persue purchasing it.
My nephew and I found a 67 Chevelle in a garage. He bought it sight-unseen for parts, turns out to be complete and rust free. It was white with red buckets & console yet it had the straight 6 and 2-speed.
I had a buddy in college in 1974 who had a 65 Impala station wagon with 396 and factory 4 speed, it was evening orchid (light lavender) with a white interior. Caprice option was introduced during the '65 model year as a trim option on Impalas to compete with Ford's new LTD. It was available in 65 only as a 4 dr hardtop. In '66, it became a separate model, and was available as 4 dr hdtp, 2 dr hdtp, and station wagon (with wood on the sides).
'66 Impala SS 2-door, 283 w/4bbl. Burgandy with black interior, bucket seats and console -- and 3 on tree. Guy special ordered it and then got drafted. Dad got it at cost.
cars i've seen my uncle bought a brand new 69 camaro ss/rs 350 4 speed. it had no rear spoiler and full size hub caps like an impala. the car also had an option called "liquid tire chain" it had aerosol de-icer cans mounted in the trunk. you pushed a button on the dash and it sprayed down behind the tire to melt the snow. he said it never worked worth a shit. he sold the car three years ago it had 65,000 miles on it. 68 camaro rs, 6 cyl auto on the column bench seat 67 camaro 6 cyl three on the tree bench seat 69 1/2 super bee 440 6 pack. auto on column bench seat
I have a 65 GTO conv. 389 tri-power, 2-speed auto,(300 turbo), no power steering, no power brakes, no back up lights! The bumper is smooth with no holes for the lights.
My dad drives a 1960 Ford Starliner with a high performance 352 and a 3 speed (originally on the column) with manual overdrive. All ordered from the factory. Mike
we had a 57 210 FOUR DOOR hardtop with limited slip, Powerpack heads and a padded dash. 3 on the tree. One of very few made. the 214 4dr hardtop was the scarecest 57 as it stands, let alone the wierd options A pal recently Had about a 78 Old 88, 2Dr, with a 3 on the tree and power everything.......weird. Dads PU hauler for his factory Olds F85 Dragcar was a 72 GMC, kinda a sqaush color with a MAROON interior! It was a fuckup on the orderform. Retired guy I know was an Alfa Mech back in the 50s. They got a roadster in that was bloodred with a Seafoam interior. Actually found a buyer that loved the combo.
When I first met my Best Man he had a brand new 62 Ford with a 406 HP 390 with three duces and a 3 speed on the column with overdrive. Fastest thing I ever rode in. He took me out on the four lane, took it up to 120 mph, put it in 2nd gear - overdrive and floored it. It was hard to lead forward because of the "Gs". He told me he raced a 58 Pontiac with 2 fours which back then was noted for a pretty good Top End. There were two guys in the Poncho. From a drag start he just played with them up to 120 plus and then motioned with his hand to the steering column. When he finally got their attention he stuck it up to 2nd and "blew the doors off" the Pontiac. The only time he ever take off his Cheater Slicks was in the winter.
In '67 I bought a '62 Impala SS golden aniversary sport coupe with a 2-bbl 283, three on the tree, no power steering or brakes. The only option was a radio,,and it wasn't even a push button. I passed on a '63 (or '64, can't remember) Grand Prix with a 421, 4 speed, and every option Pontiac offered. The Chev was eleven hundred,,I don't remember how much the Pontiac was, but I couldn't afford it, even with the two hundred bucks I got for my '56 nomad trade-in
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